


Ready, Set, Go

by somewhereelse



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 15:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12213750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhereelse/pseuds/somewhereelse
Summary: Season 5.5 Speculation. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...





	Ready, Set, Go

**Author's Note:**

> Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon Week 18: Escape.

“I am going to kill Thea,” Oliver seethed, staring grimly into the fogged and cracked mirror. Behind him, Felicity was ransacking the room, her heeled boots clicking quickly as she went from one side to the other and back again. He gripped the sides of the small sink basin as her panic started to escalate his.

“Not now, Oliver. We have to figure this out.” The underlying currents of desperation were making her voice shaky. “We only have—” he turned in time to see her goggle at the countdown clock—“under fifty-seven minutes to diffuse this bomb.”

Thea really could be a nightmare. Didn't they give her enough attention as a kid? No, probably not. He couldn't tell if she didn't realize they all had some form of PTSD when it came to bombs and deadlines—Felicity more so than any of them—or if she did it in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Though as much as he tried not to be, how seriously Felicity was taking this was starting to amuse him. He left his post at the sink, stepping into her path and wrapping his arms around her as she tried to pull away. After a few long moments, she sunk into his embrace, her arms tentatively reaching around his waist.

“Hey, you know they’re not going to take away your IQ points or revoke your MIT degrees if you can’t escape an escape room, right?” Felicity sniffed haughtily, but the effect was ruined since her nose was buried against his shirt. When she slapped his ass in reproach, the laugh finally bubbled out. “I’m sorry. It’s only a little funny.”

“I guess this is what we get for not telling anyone we’re officially back together, huh?”

After recovering the team from the remains of the island, it was clear—like _making out against a charred tree trunk_ clear—that they were back together. Thea and Curtis, in particular, had been overjoyed, only to be extremely annoyed when they announced they were still taking things one step at a time. Lately, even Diggle was getting in on the “hurry it up already” action, upgrading his subtle knowing looks to obvious eye rolls.

Coming back to Star City as its mayor with a real live son in tow had been a challenge. The first month was a circus act of trying to explain William without bringing up too many reminders of his irresponsible youth or making William feel like a mistake. The media had been so consumed with their headlines about “Mayor DILF”—how did their nickname keep getting worse?— that they barely noticed Felicity by his side, supporting him through every little victory and misstep. Now that the buzz about William had died down, no one could understand why he and Felicity were still on the back burner.

Truth was, they weren’t. The entire time they’d been sneaking around like teenagers out past curfew. And while it’s been fun, he’s ready—they’re both ready—for everyone else to know they’re together again. “No take-backs” together, as Felicity’s been calling it to avoid references to their tragic engagement. Neither of them felt the desire for an engagement period this time, agreeing that they’ll have a ceremony at City Hall when the time was right.

While he could understand that Thea and the others were frustrated by the apparent lack of progress, he wasn’t going to apologize for him and Felicity resolving their next steps  _privately_. At the very least, they deserved to have that much. And no matter how annoyed she was, Thea shouldn’t have duped them into a locked room together.

She organized this escape room outing last week, citing wanting to spend quality time with her nephew. Oliver hadn't thought to examine her for an ulterior motive. William was starting to get really into puzzles, something he and Felicity were bonding over as she tried to imprint her love of computers onto him, and an escape room did sound like something he'd be interested in. There were only so many times they could go mini-golfing before someone—Felicity—killed him for always getting a hole in one at the windmill.

After a quick dinner at Big Belly, where his appetite made it clear that William was starting to hit his first growth spurt, they arrived at the downtown venue. Oliver had been too concerned with Felicity, who went pale after the host announced their challenge was to disarm a bomb, to notice Thea and William hanging back near the entrance. The second he and Felicity crossed over the threshold, the vault-like door creaked as it started to shut behind them. They both whirled around in concern only to be meet with Thea’s smug smirk.

“Don't come out until you're back together!” had been her parting advice as the door's locks clicked into place.

And his son—oh, William had the most infuriating grin on his face and had the audacity to  _wave_ at them while the door shut. One day, years from now, he was going to ground that kid for a month without explanation. When that happened, if he thought very carefully, William will realize tonight was the reason for that grounding.

(On the other side of the door, Thea slung an arm around William’s shoulders. “Good work, bud. Let’s pick up some ice cream, and you can sleep over at mine. Probably best for your physical and/or emotional well-being if you aren’t at Ollie’s tonight. Someone has given you the sex talk before, right? Because I am _not_ here for that.”)

Shaking away the still vivid image of his scheming sister and traitorous son, Oliver focused back on Felicity. Her shaking had subsided, and she was now holding onto him of her own volition instead of out of desperation. “I don't think locking us in a Doomsday scenario together is a proportional response to us keeping our relationship private.”

“Because Thea’s known for her proportional responses,” Felicity scoffed, although her tone was still affectionate. She pulled out of his arms, ignoring his discontented grumbling, and looked around the room with a more rational frame of mind. “So we don’t have to disarm the bomb. They’ll just let us out once time is up.”

“Exactly,” Oliver agreed, following her over to where she was playing with the old-fashioned TV set, which he was certain didn’t work. “That gives us fifty minutes to kill.”

“What do you want to do?” 

Recognizing that look on her face—it’s the same one from whenever he suggested camping overnight—Oliver figured Felicity’s worried about being unreachable. They had left their phones locked in the car instead of trusting them with the staff who would try to enforce the no cell phone rule. So really she’s worried about not having entertainment for the next hour.

“Make out?” he suggested, eyeing the metal folding chairs leaning against the wall. It would probably take about ten seconds for his ass to go numb, but oh well. They’d made do in worse conditions before.

Felicity looked like she was seriously considering it for a second before she shook her head. “I'm pretty sure there are security cameras hidden in here.” Yeah, he didn’t need all those years of training to spot the not-so-hidden cameras in the corners.

A slight clicking sound caught both their attention, and the small TV screen popped open an inch. Felicity, who’d been absentmindedly fiddling with the knobs this entire time, cocked an eyebrow at him. Oliver sighed in resignation. “You want to solve the puzzle, don’t you?”

“I hate mysteries,” Felicity answered, even as he mouthed it along with her. Before she could reach in, Oliver caught her wrist and then crouched to inspect the secret compartment. Deeming it safe, he nodded at her to continue. She rolled her eyes in what he assumed was fondness but rewarded him with a kiss to his cheek.

“Your strategy, my brains. This is going to be a cake walk.”

 

* * *

 

Oliver pushed up off the wall he was leaning against when he heard the familiar sound of Thea’s laughter and the not-yet-familiar sound of William’s. Instead of smiling like he wanted to at the sight of two of his favorite people happy, he forced himself to adopt a serious expression. Sharing a look with Felicity, they both took their positions in front of Thea’s front door. 

When the pair got closer, Thea looked up from whatever William was showing her on his phone and abruptly stopped giggling. Following her cue, William glanced up and froze, fingers turning white where he was tightly gripping the phone. Slowly, they started to back up in unison.

“How’d they get out already?” William stage-whispered to Thea.

“Felicity’s a genius, but I thought Ollie would handicap her more,” she responded, just as not quietly.

“Hey!” That was mean. He wasn’t _dumb_. Not always, at least. “We can hear you!”

Stepping forward, he ignored Felicity’s hand on his back, reminding him to calm down. That’s when Thea dropped the shopping bag of ice cream. She spun William around by his shoulder and grabbed his hand before pulling him behind her.

“ _Run!_ ” Her voice was laced with the panic of a younger sibling getting caught. “Escape while you still can!”


End file.
